52 MELTON AND HOMESPUN 



cracking of thongs two men galloped off to try and turn 

 the fleeting deserters back. The}^ (the deserters) divided 

 forces, however, and the gallant whippers-in only succeeded 

 in capturing the ancient spaniel which, as before mentioned, 

 carried a hind-leg up by choice, and was therefore not 

 among the speediest of his kind. There was nothing to be 

 gained in crjdng over spilt milk, or rather sped curs, 

 however, and having coupled what remained of the ' ' pack " 

 with pieces of old rope and reims, off we went in a body 

 to Dick Sullivan's hotel, where we found some twenty 

 fresh recruits waiting to be initiated into the art of otter 

 hunting. 



It w^as now a good half-hour beyond the appointed 

 time, and away we all started for the river, with the 

 exception of a few thirsty souls, who remained to par- 

 take of a second or third " nerve-binder," fearful, 

 perhaps, that the sport would prove too exciting for 

 them. 



Just before the bank of the stream was reached a 

 hare sprang from her form in a patch of rank grass, 

 and away across the veld she sped \nth the still coupled 

 curs yapping and scrapping and falling over one another 

 like so many boys in a sack race in their anxiety to get 

 on terms with Mistress Lepus, who, with one lug laid low 

 and the other pricked, loped quietly over the arid plain 

 as though she rather enjoyed the fun. Suddenly the 

 air was rent with loud and angry " 'Ware hare ! ware 

 riot ! Dang your blood ; ye ought to know better, ye 

 old fools, after all the leatherings you've had in the 

 old country." 



The staid old couple of foxhounds, seized with the 

 rioting fever of the canine rabble, had — probably for the 



